| Waimea (Kamuela), Hawaiʻi – A heartfelt congratulations to the members of our 2023 Akamai Workforce Initiative Cohort – Kaʻala Deitch, Matthew Fujioka, Angelu Ramos, and Xavier Tablit – who have successfully completed their summer internship with us.
The Akamai Internship Program provides kamaʻāina college students the opportunity to gain hands-on work experience in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Thanks to this career pathways initiative, our staff has been privileged to serve as mentors to talented local students every summer for the past 20 years.
Sending a warm aloha to our latest cohort and best wishes in their career journeys! Read on to learn more about the projects Ka’ala, Matthew, Angelu, and Xavier worked on: |
Angelu Ramos of Hawaiʻi Island worked on the framework for Keck Observatory’s data reduction pipelines (DRPs), which organize massive amounts of raw data that telescopes collect so they’re easier for astronomers to analyze. She designed a demo DRP utilizing an industry standard plotting interface that turns messy data into clean, user-friendly visuals. With the demo DRP, she was able to identify what a plotting interface needs to do to run within the Observatory’s DRP framework, which will help the Keck Scientific Software Group continue improving it. Angelu is a Kohala High School alum and recently graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo with a B.S. in Astronomy and Minors in Physics and Math.
Kaʻala Deitch developed a new Azimuth Cable Wrap to Telescope Access Platform for the Keck II Telescope. It can safely hold the weight of two people and tools while protecting the cables in the tray under the platform. Born and raised on Hawaiʻi Island, Kaʻala is a Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu graduate who is pursuing a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a Minor in Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
Matthew Fujioka of Oʻahu worked on 
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Astronomy and Physics student Xavier Tablit studied eclipsing binary systems, which consist of two or more stars that are bound together by gravity and sometimes block each other’s light. Using data from thousands of binaries discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility, he analyzed how the stars’ brightness changed over time, along with their colors, to estimate their masses as well as distances from Earth. This allows for the probing of the Milky Way galaxy’s larger structures. Xavier is from Hawaiʻi Island and is a Pahoa High School alum.
